


You Don't Have To Be Okay, You Just Have To Live

by Aston (AstonT)



Series: Character Studies [5]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Character Study, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Koganei is mentioned, Like... unspecified but bad enough to make someone not want to talk again, No Dialogue, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 13:43:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12411417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstonT/pseuds/Aston
Summary: Song playing while writing: Okay - As It Is





	You Don't Have To Be Okay, You Just Have To Live

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kelandry5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelandry5/gifts).



> Okay so this character study is really special to me for two reasons.   
> First, I'm using someone else's ideas to inspire thought since i was stuck on this for the longest.   
> Second, it's actually written for my great friend (and fellow writer) Kel! She's in the same roleplay group as me and actually roleplays as Mitobe. The ideas I mentioned earlier? They belong to her ^^
> 
> I hope you like it Kel! Love you!

Mitobe hadn't always been mute. 

In fact, he'd been rather outgoing as a child - laughing and playing and arguing with his siblings on a regular basis. 

He had been a ball of constant sunshine, always smiling and ready with a comment to brighten someone's day up. 

And so, when that started fading, when he got a little quieter towards the end of his fourth year in elementary school, it set off warning bells in his parents' minds. 

Something wasn't right, and they needed to figure out what it was immediately. 

But... he didn't want to talk about it. 

He avoided their vague questions easily and grew distant from  them, attracting the concern of his younger siblings. 

* * *

He finally broke halfway through his last year before junior high began. 

He'd gotten progressively more withdrawn and quiet. Tried to act normal, but everyone could hear his small breakdowns at night when he couldn't hold himself together anymore. 

It wasn't even a shock anymore when he told his parents what was going on. 

No detail. No emotion in his voice. 

Just matter of fact 'someone has been hurting me' and then tears 

And it had taken an hour to get details so they could fix it and get the person responsible locked away for what they'd done. 

The last words any of them heard him say was "I'm sorry".

And it never ceased to haunt them. 

* * *

The beginning of junior high was rough. 

People didn't view his silence kindly. 

His teachers understood, but everyone else didn't. 

That was fine by him though. 

He wasn't even sure he could talk if he wanted anymore, so he would let them think what they wanted. 

Because if he spoke, he knew they'd all immediately know how broken he was and he didn't want that. 

The idea of talking made him fearful in a way nothing else ever had. 

* * *

It got easier after meeting Koganei. 

He... understood Mitobe in a way that even his family was still struggling to manage. 

Never missed a beat, just seemed to know. 

It gave him hope that maybe he wasn't so broken after all. 

Made the burden he placed himself under easier to carry. 

* * *

By high school, he wasn't afraid anymore. 

He still doubted he had the mental strength to talk, ignoring the lack of use of his voice leading into it but... it was something. 

He felt safe for the first time in years. 

 

 

 

 


End file.
